


a little green snake (in the grass)

by SailorChibi



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bathing/Washing, Brainwashing, Carrying, Choking, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, FrostIron - Freeform, Hugging, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mention of alcohol, No Endgame Spoilers, Not canon compliant obviously, Possessive Loki (Marvel), Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Protective Loki (Marvel), Secret Relationship, Tony Stark Gets a Hug, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, choking people is not okay thor, he makes for a very cute snake, loki and tony have been secretly dating, loki doesn't stand for anyone messing with tony's mind, loki fawns over tony, loki transforming into a snake, loki vows retribution against wanda, mention of drinking alcohol, not really team cap safe, set during age of ultron, snake loki, takes place during age of ultron, the avengers are always suspicious of tony, tony is at the point where he no longer gives a shit, ultron was not tony's fault
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-05-25
Packaged: 2020-03-14 16:26:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18951772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorChibi/pseuds/SailorChibi
Summary: How would AOU have changed if Loki and Tony had been secretly dating? For one thing, Loki would never have stood by while Thor choked Tony.





	a little green snake (in the grass)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AlyssaHoran](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlyssaHoran/gifts).



> Ok, so I was watching that scene from Ragnarok where Thor talks about how Loki turned into a snake and bit him. And for some reason, my brain went 'huh, it would've really been something if snake-Loki had been around Tony's neck when Thor grabbed Tony around the throat in AOU". Naturally, this fic got way longer than it was supposed to be.

Immediately following the arrest of Strucker, Tony and the other Avengers returned to the tower. He and Bruce took the sceptre to Tony’s workshop and immediately began studying it. Tony forgot about everything else as JARVIS ran test after test; it was like the world narrowed to the sceptre, and Tony was compelled to find out everything that he could about how the sceptre worked. 

They extracted the net of neurons and began working with it. Bruce’s help was invaluable: he understood the human brain better than Tony did, thanks to all of his research on the Hulk and how that worked. Tony was beginning to have hope, but every time he stopped to think that _horrible_ vision swelled over him once more and drove him to work harder, _faster_.

He didn’t sleep. He didn’t eat. For the span of three days, all he could do was work.

“Tony, you should take a break,” Bruce said, somewhere in the distance. Tony barely acknowledged him with a nod. If it wasn’t about their work, he didn’t want to hear it. He vaguely registered Bruce frowning and leaving the room but didn’t pay the thought any more attention. His fingers flew over the keys. It wasn’t working the way he wanted to, and he needed to figure out why.

A hand appeared within his field of vision. Tony paused, tracking said hand with his eyes until it cupped his cheek and physically turned his head to the side. Familiar green eyes caught and bored into him. Something in Tony rose up, wanting to fight back against the intrusion, but the better side of him prevailed and went lax. The hand left his cheek to grip his upper arm instead, steadying him.

“Thank you, Bruce, for letting me know.”

“No problem. I thought – ugh, this thing is screwing with both our heads, but it’s especially getting to Tony. Thanks for coming, Luke.”

“I would do anything for Tony,” came the calm response. “Which is why I’m doing what I’m doing now. Leave, Bruce. Leave this room, take a nap, and don’t return.”

“But the sceptre –”

“I said _leave_.”

Quiet footsteps shuffled out of the room. The next thing Tony knew, he was being lifted up. He fought instinctively as he was carried from the room, trying to lunge back towards the sceptre, but the hold on him was too strong. He cursed and swore and tried to call the armor to him; JARVIS failed to respond, which was both infuriating and frustrating. He didn’t stop fighting until they were in the bedroom and he was being dropped on the bed.

“Tony, _stop_.” 

Green light shimmered and Loki appeared, still clad in the jeans and t-shirt his alter ego had been wearing. Those cool green eyes caught Tony’s eyes again. Tony stilled in the middle of leaping off the bed. Slowly he sat back down again, entranced by the sight of Loki’s eyes. Loki smiled faintly, though Tony was aware enough to recognize that it was not a happy smile.

“I’m going to look inside your mind, Tony. You’ve been influenced,” Loki murmured. “I need you to sit on the bed and keep still. Can you do that for me?”

Tony paused, genuinely uncertain for a moment, before slowly nodding.

“Good boy,” Loki said warmly, moving closer. He laid the fingers of his right hand on Tony’s forehead.

For Tony, it felt like a sea of green swamped his mind. It was not a scary or angry feeling but comforting. He knew this magic; he was intimately familiar with it in more ways than one. For the first time in days, he was able to relax. He didn’t know how long the feeling lasted for, but it felt like a considerable amount of time had passed before the green light faded from his mind.

“How do you feel?” Loki asked.

Tony blinked. His eyes hurt. So did his head. It wasn’t unlike a hangover, actually: that gross, achy, room spinning, might-throw-up feeling. He said, “I have a bitch of a headache.”

Loki exhaled and shook his head. “You’re fortunate that’s all you have. Thank the nines that you’re as receptive to my magic as you are.” He moved his hand to the top of Tony’s head and began to massage Tony’s scalp as he spoke, fingertips rubbing exactly the way Tony liked it.

“What happened?” Tony asked, closing his eyes. That helped a little with the dizziness. It was better when Loki stepped between his legs and allowed Tony to wrap an arm around his waist. Tony leaned his head against Loki’s side, trying to breathe slowly and deeply.

“The sceptre is dangerous. It didn’t brainwash you… not quite… but it was compelling you to do what it told you to do.” Loki sighed. “It’s times like this that I wish you still had the arc reactor in your chest.”

Tony made a quiet sound of acknowledgement. That was too large of a concept to think about right now. He’d have to give it more thought when his head didn’t feel like it was going to split in half, or when he wasn’t one wrong move away from vomiting all over the floor.

“But there was more.” Loki’s voice deepened, gaining a dangerous note. “Someone else has been messing with your mind, paving the way for the sceptre’s influence. Whoever it was, their magic feels very similar to that of the sceptre. Do you know who it was?”

“No,” Tony said, bewildered. “I – we broke into the base, like I told you. I had a vision…” He shuddered and pressed closer. Loki’s free hand landed on his upper back, pressing firmly to help ground him.

“I saw,” Loki whispered. He understood. Tony didn’t need to look or ask to know that much. If anyone else could grasp the sheer magnitude of what was coming, it was Loki. 

“Bruce and I, we were on trying to build up the Iron Legion,” Tony said thickly. “I should – I need to –” He regretfully let go of Loki and tried to stand. That was a mistake. He was immediately nauseated, and his legs gave out. Loki caught up, lifting him with ease. 

“Shh, relax,” Loki said, and it was a little easier to do so when Loki told him so. Tony laid his head on Loki’s shoulder, breathing fast.

“I need to figure out what we did,” Tony mumbled. It was really creepy that he couldn’t remember. The last few days were just a blur. He knew he and Bruce had done a lot of work. He remembered feeling like it was work that he _had_ to do. But the finer details? Now that his mind was clearer, exactly what they were working on was escaping him. Something about the Iron Legion, and making a group of armors to help protect the Earth – 

“You need rest more than anything,” Loki replied. 

“But –”

“Tony, if you go near the sceptre now, it will only put you right back where you started. I’m not sure if I’d be able to free you a second time. I need time to build a shield around your mind.” Loki sounded frustrated now. “I should have done so before, but I never thought…” He trailed off and gave an annoyed grunt. “Come on. You’re resting.”

“I don’t want to,” Tony said, pouting, but he knew Loki was right. He would have to crawl back down to the workshop at this rate, and it was entirely possible he wouldn’t even make it down there. His head was really pounding now.

“I’ll bathe you,” Loki offered, his voice softening. 

Tony was a weak man at heart, a weak man who craved Loki’s attention and gentle touch. He caved immediately. “Okay.”

“Okay,” Loki echoed, and Tony didn’t have to open his eyes to know that Loki was smiling fondly. 

Loki carried him into the bathroom and used magic to divest them both of their clothing. Tony opened his eyes a slit to watch his shirt and pants vanish and realized that he hadn’t changed since returning home from the base. He didn’t remember showering, eating or sleeping either. No wonder he was feeling the way that he was. His body was at the point where it was throwing its hands up.

With the lights in the bathroom off to make it more comfortable for Tony, Loki stepped into the massive shower and set Tony down on one of the built-in ledges. Tony leaned back against the wall and kept his eyes open, watching as Loki pulled the glass door shut behind him. They were both naked, and as always Tony was slightly aroused just from seeing Loki’s very attractive body, but honestly he was too exhausted and sick to even think about doing anything no matter how much he might’ve wanted to.

After switching the water on and giving it time to heat up, Loki reached up and grabbed the shower head. He turned to Tony and began running the water across Tony’s body. Tony basked in the heat, making a quiet sound of contentment that earned him a smile from Loki. He didn’t even need to worry about moving, because Loki’s magic did that for him: it had taken time to get used to magic lifting his limbs and shifting him around, but now Tony had come to relish that feeling because it meant he was safe.

He never wanted to lose that.

Once they were both fully wet, it surprisingly only took a moment or two for Loki to select the shower gel he was going to use. He had a huge selection, each one containing different scents or properties. Loki could spend hours ruminating about the best one. Today, however, he selected one of Tony’s favorites. It was a combination of lavender, jasmine and rosemary that was very calming.

It was hard to put into words how it felt to lay limply as Loki’s strong hands ran across his body, ostensibly to spread the shower gel around, but really to give Tony a bit of a massage. Getting clean after a long, hard working session always felt good, but this was better. Loki just seemed to _know_ all the right places to touch, and exactly how hard to press to make the knots in Tony’s muscles dissolve like hot butter. By the end of it, Tony was so boneless that Loki’s magic was the only thing keeping him from slithering into a heap at the bottom of the tub.

And then, suddenly, Loki’s fingers were in his hair and Tony groaned with pleasure as his headache eased. Loki chuckled, and Tony opened his eyes to see that Loki’s eyes were very bright. Partly with mischief – they both knew that Loki loved knowing that he could break Tony down like this – but also with happiness, and that, in spite of everything, was enough to make Tony smile too.

“C’mere,” he mumbled, reaching for Loki with a sluggish hand. He pulled Loki in and they kissed beneath the falling water, with the taste of shampoo on Tony’s lips. He made a face and Loki laughed again, sitting back on his heels and taking hold of the shower head again.

“Turn sideways and lean back,” Loki said. He was always so careful about not letting water run over Tony’s face, and he was extra careful about it now. Tony appreciated it. Being here with Loki meant that the vision seemed far away, but he was conscious of what kind of nightmares it might bring tonight. Being reminded of Afghanistan, however unintentionally, was not something else he needed.

Tony turned, this time leaning against Loki, and sighed as the shampoo was washed from his hair. His head fit comfortably into the crook of Loki’s neck and shoulder, and when he opened his eyes he could see Loki’s expression even though it was upside down. The look of concentration on Loki’s face as he used his magic to shield Tony’s face from any lingering rivulets of water was adorable. Had Tony not been dizzy with exhaustion just from moving, he might’ve tried to kiss Loki again.

“I love it when you spoil me,” he muttered instead, words almost lost beneath the sound of the water. But Loki heard, of course, and smiled again.

“You’d never know it from how much you fuss when I spoil you,” Loki said, amused. 

“I do not,” Tony said, which was a complete and utter lie and they both knew it.

Loki didn’t even bother to dignify that with a response; he just switched the water off and stood. He was unfairly attractive, all long, muscled limbs and pale skin and dark hair. Tony couldn’t help tracking a drop of water as it slid down Loki’s chest and across his belly, then lower still – and then yelped when Loki snorted and lightly flicked Tony in the forehead.

“Stop,” he said, not unkindly. “Come here.”

“I can walk, you know,” Tony said half-heartedly. The truth was, he probably couldn’t. His legs shook even thinking about it. Even though he hadn’t done much, the shower seemed to have stolen what little energy he still had.

“Can you?” Loki said dryly. “I was unaware.”

“Don’t be mean,” Tony said, folding his arms, and Loki snorted so hard he nearly dropped Tony. Tony reached up and slung an arm around Loki’s neck just to be sure.

They successfully made it back to the bed, where Loki set Tony down again. The bed was wonderfully soft, and Tony sank into it. He was not at all surprised when Loki joined him with a platter of sliced fruits and warmed breads. Eating was honestly the last thing he wanted to do, but he was well aware that Loki could and would hand feed him. That was a bit more than Tony could take when the promise of amazing sex wasn’t on the table.

“I’ll have to look into this,” Loki said after a few moments of silence.

Tony bit into a juicy slice of mango. “The Sceptre?”

Loki shook his head. “The Sceptre doesn’t alarm me. Your reaction to it was normal. It’s exceedingly easy to fall beneath its spell. Frankly, I’m amazed that Banner was able to shake off the effects long enough to fetch me.”

“Must be the Hulk,” Tony said. He’d have to thank Bruce for that later.

“Perhaps,” Loki said. There was no love lost between Loki and the Hulk. Sometimes Tony thought that Hulk must be the only person who’d seen through the veil of Luke Osmond. To everyone else in the world, Luke was the quiet, foreign lover and partner of Tony Stark. Not even Thor had put two and two together, partly because Luke made it a point to spend as little time with the Avengers as possible. The team believed him to be shy; Tony had been subjected to more than one tasteless joke about shy people from Barton and Romanov.

If only they knew.

He popped a grape into his mouth and chewed. “So then what’s worrying you?”

“Whoever gave you that vision. As I said, their power is eerily reminiscent of the Sceptre, and that is concerning,” Loki said. His eyes were grave. “I need to find out who it is, and what they’ve been doing.”

“What do you mean?” Tony asked. “And it was most likely Wanda Maximoff. Hill gave us some intel on her, but we don’t know much.”

“She knew what she was doing when she went into your mind. You’re not the first person she has attacked this way,” Loki said quietly.

The bite of melon suddenly tasted like ash. Tony swallowed hard. “I think I’m done eating.”

Loki vanished the food with a twitch of his finger. “While you sleep tonight, I will weave shields around your mind,” he announced. “Several layers of protection, so that this doesn’t happen again.” He paused briefly, before asking, “Is that alright?”

“Yeah, sure,” Tony said with a tiny smile. It had taken some time to work the idea of asking for permission before using magic through Loki’s head. Loki was slowly getting there – apparently the kingdom of Asgard wasn’t big on personal space and bodily autonomy – and Tony was proud of him. 

“Then sleep,” Loki said, sitting up. He leaned over Tony so that their eyes met, and Tony immediately felt impossibly tired. The last thing he was conscious of was the cool touch of Loki’s fingers tracing their way down his cheek.

He awoke the next day feeling as though he had been asleep for a week. Loki was curled up beside him, head on Tony’s chest and both arms wrapped securely around Tony’s waist, like he was using Tony as his own personal teddy bear. Either that, or he was trying to make sure that Tony wasn’t going to flee the bed without Loki knowing about it. Tony was never sure which.

His head felt clear, not fogged with magic or exhaustion or illness, for the first time in days. Tony blinked at the ceiling, now able to see how concerning his actions had been since the Avengers returned from the base. The three days he and Bruce had spent working were like a blur. He couldn’t even remember what they’d been working on beyond the very basics. It was a good thing that JARVIS would have a record.

A quick look around found him his phone, which was sitting on the nightstand beside him. Loki must have put it there, because Tony had no memory of doing so. He grabbed his phone and unlocked it. The very first thing that popped up was a reminder of the party that was starting in – he checked the time and swore. An hour and a half. He and Loki had spent most of the day sleeping.

In all fairness, if his memory served correctly, he was pretty sure that Loki hadn’t pried him out of the workshop until after dawn. He briefly considered skipping the party altogether, but that wouldn’t work either. It would be too telling, and the last thing he needed right now was Captain America trying to get all up in his business. Just the thought of Rogers’s sanctimonious, condescending attitude when the truth came out about the sceptre and the vision made Tony shudder.

“Green Eyes, wake up,” Tony said, rubbing his forehead. So much for his headache being gone.

Loki stirred quickly, first one eye opening and then the second. “How do you feel?”

“Irritated,” Tony said, and showed him the alert.

“You can’t go,” Loki said.

“I have to go. It’ll definitely be noticed if I don’t.”

“Then I’ll go with you,” Loki said, a stubborn look settling onto his face.

“You can’t. I already told them that Luke was away.” Tony sighed.

“Banner’s already seen me,” Loki pointed out.

Tony conceded that point with a nod. “He has. But… the more time you spend around Thor and the others, the more risk that someone is going to figure it out. You know what a disaster that would be.”

Rather than respond, Loki pursed his lips and frowned deeply. Tony gave him a helpless shrug; he couldn’t change the situation no matter how much he wanted to. Thor liked to play the part of a troll, pretending he didn’t know anything about Midgard or their ‘strange traditions’, but he was way more observant than most people gave him credit for. He was also very familiar with Loki, and with the subtle feel of magic that Loki exuded.

He looked Loki in the eye and admitted, “I like having you here. I don’t want you to go.”

Loki sighed. “Then I’ll come with you in a different way,” he said. 

“A different way?” Tony repeated. He yelped with surprise as green light shone around Loki, and then, suddenly, there was a snake laying on the bed beside Tony.

The snake uncoiled, lifting his head to peer up at Tony. A tiny red tongue flicked out, tasting the air. Tony stared down at him with fascination. As a snake Loki was surprisingly small, about the length of Tony’s forearm. His scales were a deep green color, not unlike the color of Loki’s eyes in the form Loki usually preferred, except for five bands of black around the midsection. Beady black eyes stared intently back at Tony.

“Seriously?” Tony said, slowly reaching down to run a finger along the snake’s back. The scales were cool to the touch, a little rough and dry. 

With another flash of green light, Loki was back to normal. “Thor knows that I can transform into snakes, but it’s been a long time. And I’ve never taken that form around him. Asgardian snakes are considerably larger, but I didn’t think you’d be able to lift one.”

“Are you calling me weak?” Tony demanded, before the implication of that statement sank in. “Wait, what?”

Loki’s smile was slow and amused. “You can wear me around your neck. You’re right; people would pay plenty of attention to the mysterious partner of Tony Stark, who so rarely shows his face to the Avengers. But no one would think twice if an eccentric billionaire shows up with an unusual neck adornment.”

“I think wearing a snake around my neck is a little more than unusual,” Tony replied. But he couldn’t deny that the option to have Loki with him during the party was tempting. Very tempting.

“None of them know you well enough to know that it’s out of character, except for possibly Rhodes. And he won’t push you in front of them,” said Loki.

“Okay, fine. You win,” Tony said. “But if you bite me, I’m dropping you off the tower.”

“Oh, suddenly you don’t like it when I bite you?” Loki asked. His voice went all low and throaty, almost a purr, and it was completely unfair the kind of reaction he could provoke in Tony when they only had about seventy minutes before the party was about to begin.

“I don’t like it at all,” Tony lied, trying to keep his back straight and his face composed when all he wanted to do was lay back against the pillows, arms spread, and let Loki do whatever Loki wanted to do.

“You could at least _try_ to sound somewhat convincing,” Loki said dryly. “That might have been the worst attempt at lying I’ve ever heard.”

“Mean,” Tony said. He gave in to the urge and tipped backwards, sprawling against the pillows. Meeting Loki’s eyes, he splayed his legs and arms wide and tipped his chin up to show his throat. It would’ve been funny, how quickly Loki’s eyes darkened with desire, if it hadn’t also sent arousal pooling into the pit of Tony’s stomach. Loki exhaled, shifting, and then pounced.

Needless to say, Tony was late to the party.

He walked in wearing his chosen outfit in shades of grey and black, which made the green snake around his neck stand out beautifully. He’d managed to extract a promise from Loki that Loki wouldn’t interfere unless absolutely necessary – and it was _Tony’s_ decision as to what was necessary, not Loki’s. He valued hiding Loki from the Avengers far higher than Loki did; Tony, better than anyone, knew what the Avengers and SHIELD could be capable of. 

“Dude,” Rhodey said when he saw Tony. “Is that a real snake?”

“Yup,” Tony said. Loki hissed softly. Maria Hill, who was standing next to Rhodey, physically leapt back several steps with a shocked shriek.

“Why?” Rhodey asked as all heads swung in Tony’s direction.

Tony shrugged and flashed his cool smile. “Because.”

He could see Romanov rolling her eyes even from across the room and knew that it was enough. Rhodey gave him a confused look, clearly aware there was more going on here than Tony was saying, but thankfully Rhodey had the good sense not to ask personal questions like that when they were in public. Maybe it was time to tell Rhodey the truth about Tony’s partner. He’d have to have that talk with Loki later.

The party was okay, but Tony found himself disinterested in most of the conversations. At least people weren’t asking him about Pepper anymore. Tony was sick to death of those questions. He and Pepper had ended their relationship before it ever really began not long after the Battle of New York, mutually recognizing that they couldn’t be everything to each other. She’d been legitimately thrilled for him when the news broke about Tony dating Luke. 

On the other hand, people not asking about Pepper left the door open for prying questions about Luke. Tony fielded them as best he could, giving bland, non-answers. Luke Osmond’s background was as thorough and airtight as both magic, money and considerable connections could make it, and he knew it was driving people like Fury and Romanov crazy not to know ‘the truth’. They just couldn’t believe that Tony was interested in a seemingly average person.

Of course, they were right. But they didn’t have to know that.

All things considered, Tony thought the party was going well. He respectfully declined the offer to try and lift Mjolnir; he didn't know what being too close to the hammer would do to Loki, and besides he was pretty sure he already knew what the answer to that question was. There was no way in hell Tony would ever be considered worthy. It surprised exactly no one, except for possibly Thor, when Rogers managed to lift the hammer a couple of inches. Loki hissed in Tony's ear, which was definitely the snake version of laughter.

And then it all went to shit when Ultron attacked.

It only lasted for a few minutes, but that was more than long enough. When it was over, Tony was numb. He almost wished he'd agreed to let Loki come out. The snake had been wiggling around his neck the whole time, but Loki had kept his promise. The loss of JARVIS would've been slightly easier to take had he had Loki there to lean on. As it was, Tony stood in the middle of the room and stared at the remains of his best friend in the whole world. No one else in the room, save for Loki and Rhodey, could even begin to understand what JARVIS had meant to him.

Perhaps that was way Tony didn't notice the danger until Thor was already beside him. He started to turn, but it was too late. Thor's hand shot out and grabbed him. His thumb and index finger dug painfully into Tony's jaw, while his other three fingers wrapped around his neck. The grip was so tight that it left Tony immediately breathless; his shoes left the floor as Thor raised his hand, lifting Tony a good two or three feet into the air. It all happened in the blink of an eye and Tony's brain was left scrambling to catch up.

"I have more than enough - ah!" Thor shouted with pain.

Suddenly, Tony was falling. Literally. His feet hit the ground and he nearly toppled over, head spinning as he took in a huge gulp of air, but a familiar hand gripped his arm to steady him. Then he was being pulled again, this time behind Loki. He looked up, free hand going instinctively to his throat, and saw that Loki had plunged a dagger deep into Thor's chest. He couldn't see Loki's face from his vantage point, but he could see the expression of complete shock on Thor's face. It was replicated on the faces of everyone else in the room.

"Brother?!" Thor exclaimed. "What -"

Loki said something vicious in a language that Tony guessed was probably their native Asgardian. Thor recoiled, eyes opening wide in surprise. Loki shifted his weight forward and let go of Tony. In the next instant, in a flash of green light, both Thor and Loki were gone. 

"What the hell was that?!" Barton burst out, so loud that Tony jumped, and the next few minutes were filled with utter pandemonium.

Barton was freaking out. Romanov and Hill were trying to calm him down. Bruce looked like an awful lot like he was doing his calming meditation, but his skin had taken on a suspicious green tint. Rhodey was trying to explain things to a rather confused Helen Cho. And Rogers was staring at Tony with narrowed eyes. Tony met the cold gaze, still rubbing his throat. It burned when he tried to swallow. He hoped that Thor hadn't broken or crushed anything important. It would be pretty inconvenient if he died in his sleep tonight. Tony had a lot of stuff to do.

"What was he doing here, Tony?" Rogers said, cutting straight through the cacophony.

"What?" Tony tried to laugh, but it came out as a pained wheeze. He grimaced. 

"Loki. What was he doing here?" Rogers repeated.

"You're assuming I know?" Tony said hoarsely. It sounded like he was sick with a bad cold and had nearly lost his voice. It was humiliating, but he couldn't do anything about it when swallowing nearly brought tears of pain to his eyes.

"He was defending you," Romanov said, turning around.

"Oh, is that what he was doing? Funny. From my point of view, it looked like he picked a moment when Thor was distracted to attack," Tony said. "But since the rest of you were standing so far back and weren't trying to stop the _god who was choking me_ , it's no wonder you couldn't tell."

He turned on his heel and stormed out of the room, leaving his team behind. In truth, he knew that Loki had reacted too fast for any of them to even think about interrupting - or at least, he _hoped_ that was the truth. Otherwise, it meant that all of his so-called teammates, even Rhodey, were willing to stand around and not interfere while a literal god was holding Tony off the ground by his throat. And that wasn't something he could think too closely about, not when the loss of JARVIS was too sharp and cutting. 

They would all be suspicious now, especially Barton. Guy had a tendency to freak out whenever Loki was so much as mentioned, so now that Loki had actually been physically present Barton was going to be walking on eggshells. Tony rubbed his forehead as he walked into the elevator. He waited a few beats too long before realizing that there was no JARVIS to make the elevator move, and his eyes got hot. He blinked rapidly and hit the button much harder than necessary. It shuddered into motion, taking Tony up to the very top level of the tower.

There he emerged, half-hoping Loki would be around. But there was no sign of him, which Tony couldn't bring himself to be surprised by. Loki's vehemence towards Thor had not been cooled by time or distance, and now Thor had personally threatened Tony. Tony had no doubt that there was a knock-down, drag-out fight going on somewhere right now. He touched his neck again and went to the bathroom to take a look. His throat was already turning into a livid bruise, with the five points where Thor's fingers and thumb had been swelling the darkest. 

Scratch that: Loki was probably trying to outright _murder_ Thor right now.

He thought about going back down to the workshop while he waited for Loki, but he just couldn’t. Instead, he went into the kitchen and poured himself a generous helping of whiskey. As painful as it was to swallow – it felt more like he was drinking shards of glass than whiskey - a few sips helped to calm Tony down some. His heart stopped feeling like it was going to jump out of his chest and his hands stopped shaking. 

Eventually, he ended up by the windows just gazing out at the city below. Some part of him wondered if Rogers and the others were still in the tower. He thought they might have left to go deal with Ultron. More power to them if they had. Tony wasn’t going anywhere without Loki, and even if Loki were with him, he had no interest in being around the team right now.

He lifted the glass to his lips to take one last sip of whiskey and startled when a familiar hand plucked it out of his grip instead. Loki smoothly tossed the swallow of whiskey back and set the glass down. He seemed no worse for the wear even though he’d clearly been fighting, since his hair and clothing were mussed. 

“You owed me a drink,” Loki said by way of explanation.

“I gave you that drink a long time ago,” Tony rasped. Loki’s eyes flashed with renewed fury when he heard how poorly Tony’s voice sounded; he looked like he wanted nothing more than to teleport back to wherever he’d come from and attack Thor again.

Sure enough, Loki hissed, “I should’ve done more than just stab Thor a few times. I should go back and - ”

“Please don’t,” Tony whispered. “I – JARVIS –” That was all he was able to get out, but it was enough: the anger drained from Loki’s face and was swiftly replaced with compassion.

“Oh, Tony. I’m sorry.” He moved to pull Tony into a hug, which Tony gratefully sank into. “Is there a way to fix it?” he asked, hugging Tony tightly.

“I… I don’t know. I guess it depends on what Ultron took,” Tony said. “I didn’t look at the damage in detail.”

“No matter. I know what it’s like to lose a child, and I wouldn’t wish that pain on anyone. If there is even the slightest chance you can fix it, then you’ll have what you need to do so. I shall bring you Ultron,” Loki murmured. “And you can tear him apart to reform your JARVIS.”

Tony brought his hands up and clutched at the back of Loki’s shirt, momentarily overwhelmed. When he thought he could speak without crying, he said, “Ultron kicked all of our asses. Are you sure you can handle him?”

“Well, I won’t be alone. You’ll be there with me,” Loki replied, and Tony smiled faintly.

“True.” He curled closer, resting his head on Loki’s shoulder. “Thanks for defending me.” Because the thing was, Tony was perfectly capable of defending himself. Without the armor he couldn’t fight an Asgardian, but he knew that Thor would’ve set him down eventually. It was just _nice_ to know that with Loki around, he didn’t have to. 

“My brother is an idiot. He could’ve killed you by doing something so foolish,” Loki snarled. “He’s always been one to react with anger, instead of actually thinking about the situation. None of that was your fault. You were under the influence of both the witch and the sceptre. He didn’t even give you a chance to explain, not that I’m surprised.” His voice was filled with bitterness.

“I don’t know what I would’ve said even if he’d given me the chance,” Tony admitted.

Loki just sighed. “I should’ve intervened when Ultron showed up.”

Tony shook his head. “It’s better you didn’t. It would’ve looked too suspicious. As it is, the first words out of Cap’s mouth were a demand to know what you were doing here.”

“Perhaps I should stab him too,” Loki mused.

“Your list of people to stab is getting long. Thor, Ultron, Maximoff, now Cap…”

“And I will stab them all,” Loki said, with the sort of grim determination that never ceased to make Tony a bit weak at the knees. He was _so_ grateful that Loki was here right now, because he didn’t know where he would be otherwise. Probably halfway through a bottle of whiskey, no doubt, trying to drown the pain of losing JARVIS. 

He rested his forehead against Loki’s and whispered, “I can’t wait to watch.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](https://tsuki-chibi.tumblr.com/).


End file.
